Angularly adjustable cymbal mounting

ABSTRACT

An angularly adjustable cymbal mounting head is provided for detachable connection to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, the head comprising a body having forward bearing means and rearward bearing means adapted to slidably receive shaft means, means on said body for affixing a first cymbal to the forward portion thereof, said shaft means being adapted to extend through and beyond said first cymbal and being provided with means to affix a second cymbal thereto for movement therewith relative to said body and first cymbal, linkage means connected to said shaft means, mounting means angularly adjustably attached to said body for affixing said body to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, and connecting means on said linkage means for attaching said linkage means to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand.

United States Patent [191 Crigger 1 ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE CYMBAL MOUNTING [76] inventor: Ralph Dean Crlgger, R.F.D. 3,

Johnson City, Tenn. 37601 [22] Filed: Oct. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 301,500

[51] Int. Cl. Gl0d 13/00 [58] Field of Search 84/402, 403, 421, 84/422, 327, 329

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,464,305' 9/1969 Meazzi et a] 84/422 3,167,995 2/1965 Londe 84/421 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATIONS 1,252,714 8/1964 Germany 84/402 [451 July 3,1973

Primary Examiner-Richard B, Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Pat Salce [5 1 ABSTRACT An angularly adjustable cymbal mounting head is provided for detachable connection to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, the head comprising a body having forward bearing means and rearward bearing means adapted to slidably receive shaft means, means on said body for affixing a first cymbal to the forward portion thereof, said shaft means being adapted to extend through and beyond said first cymbal and being provided with means to affix a second cymbal thereto for movement therewith relative to said body and first cymbal, linkage means connected to said shaft means, mounting means angularly adjustably attached to said body for affixing said body to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, and connecting means on said linkage means for attaching said linkage means to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE CYMBAL MOUNTING This invention concerns a novel mounting head for cymbals whereby a treadle operated cymbal stand sup ports the angularly adjustable mounting head such that by depression of the treadle the cymbals are brought into sound damping contact with each other.

Treadle operated cymbal stands are, of course, employed in the music field as exemplified by the commonly referred to high-hat or sock type of cymbals. In such devices, the cymbals are held in generally parallel planes to the floor and the drummer must reach upwardly, oftimes in an uncomfortable position, to play them. This often leads to-striking of the cymbal edges, resulting in untrue sounds and damage to the sticks and cymbals.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a cymbal mounting head which can be readily angularly adjusted to position the cymbals at any desired angle to the drummer to be comfortably played by him.

Another object is to provide such a mounting head with linkage means for attachment to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand, which linkage provides an extremely smooth and positive motion of the cymbals relative to each other in response to depression or elevation of the treadle.

These and other objects hereinafter appearing have been attained in accordance with the present invention through the mounting head construction shown in the attached drawings comprising a body having forward bearing means 12 and rearward bearing means 14 adpated to slidably receive shaft means 16, means 18 on said body for affixing a first cymbal to the forward portion thereof, said shaft means being adapted to extend through and beyond said first cymbal and being provided with means 20 to affix a second cymbal thereto for movement therewith relative to said body and first cymbal, linkage means 22 connected to said shaft means, mounting means angularly adjustably attached to said body for affixing said body to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, and connecting means 24 on said linkage means for attaching said linkage means to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting head with cymbals attached;

FIG. 2 is a view of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a side view, partially broken away, of the lower portion of a conventional treadle stand.

Referring to'the drawings, body 10 may be of any conveniently manufacturable shape and material which provides aforward bearing means 12 and rearward bearing means 14 to slidably receive shaft means 16. The distance between these bearing means may, of course, be varied in accordance with rigidity of the shaft means, and in this regard the bearings may be integral with a single bushing on the body. In the embodiment shown, the forward bearing is conveniently provided by a threaded member 30 screwed into body 10 and locked thereto by nut 32.

Shaft means 16 extending through bearing means 12 passes through a central aperture 34 in depression 36 in cymbal 38 and through central aperture 40 in depression 42 in cymbal 44. Cymbal 38 is locked to member 30 by nut 46 and is cushioned by felt washers 48 and rigid washers 50. Other such convenient cushioning and securing means may, of course, be employed. Cymbal 44 is conveniently attached in the embodiment shown to shaft means 16 by nut 52, felt washer 54, rigid washer 56, and collar 58 provided with set screw 60. Attached to shaft means 16 is linkage means 22 passing through the rear opening 23 in body 10 and comprising, in the preferred embodiment, a strap of flexible but relatively nonextensible material such as leather, steel, polypropylene, Nylon, or the like. Its attachment to the shaft means may be by any means such as passing the shaft means through the strap, backing it up by washer 62 and securing in place by pin 64. Other mechanical attaching means, or welding or glueing may be employed. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that in place of strapping, wire cable, cord, small chain or the like may be employed. Strapping, however, allows an extremely smooth and noiseless motion, as well as resisting excessive rotation of cymbal 44. In this regard, it will be recognized that conventional keying construction may be provided on shaft means 16 and body 10 in order to prevent rotation of cymbal 44. Linkage means 22, in the preferred embodiment, passes over directional bearing means 26 which may be a simple shoulder or a more complex roller mounted on a shaft 66. Spacer bushing 67 is preferably employed to allow tightening of wing nut 69 on shaft 66 after the desired angular adjustment of body 10 is made. Roller 26 can also be replaced by a sprocket for use with a small chain employed as the linkage means. In the preferred embodiment, bearing 26 is positioned such that the pulling force generated by depression of the treadle 78 will always be translated into a pulling force substantially parallel to shaft means 16 in order to give the 1 smoothest action possible of the shaft through its bearings. As shown in the drawings, this is accomplished by mounting bearing 26 at the pivot point of body 10 about a support 68 which is conveniently connected to the upper end 70 of the cymbal stand by a threaded bushing 72 and nut 74. The treadle shaft 76, slidable in bushing 72, is conveniently detatchably connected to linkage 22 by the S hook connecting means 24, or other convenient means. It can be seen that, in whatever position the drummer inclines the cymbals toward him, depression force on the treadle 78 will be translated substantially axially of shaft means 16. As the depression force is removed from the treadle, spring means 28 provides a force to urge cymbal 44 away from cymbal 38. This spring means is conveniently positioned as I shown around shaft 16, however, other compression or extension spring arrangements well-known to the art may be employed. The spring force may be adjustable by known means such as providing an adjustable setscrew type collar on shaft means 16 against which the forward end of the spring abuts.

This invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications may be made within the spirit andscope of the invention as described hereinabove.

I claim:

1. A mounting head for cymbals comprising a body having forward bearing means and rearward bearing means adapted to slidably receive shaft means, means on said body for affixing a first cymbal to the forward portion thereof, said shaft means being adapted to extend through and beyond said first cymbal and being provided with means to affix a second cymbal thereto for movement therewith relative to said body and first cymbal, linkage means connected to said shaft means, mounting means angularly adjustably attached to said body for affixing said body to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, and connecting means on said linkage means for attaching said linkage means to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand.

2. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein said linkage is comprised of flexible material.

3. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein directional bearing means are provided on said body to contact said linkage means to direct its travel.

4. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein spring of cymbals attached thereto. 

1. A mounting head for cymbals comprising a body having forward bearing means and rearward bearing means adapted to slidably receive shaft means, means on said body for affixing a first cymbal to the forward portion thereof, said shaft means being adapted to extend through and beyond said first cymbal and being provided with means to affix a second cymbal thereto fOr movement therewith relative to said body and first cymbal, linkage means connected to said shaft means, mounting means angularly adjustably attached to said body for affixing said body to the upper portion of a treadle operated cymbal stand, and connecting means on said linkage means for attaching said linkage means to the treadle shaft of a cymbal stand.
 2. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein said linkage is comprised of flexible material.
 3. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein directional bearing means are provided on said body to contact said linkage means to direct its travel.
 4. The mounting head of claim 1 wherein spring means are provided contacting said body and said shaft means for urging said cymbals apart.
 5. The mounting head of claim 3 wherein the directional bearing means are positioned substantially on the pivot axis of the mounting head relative to the cymbal stand.
 6. The mounting head of claim 1 pivotally attached to a treadle actuated cymbal stand, and having a pair of cymbals attached thereto. 